2 Former players defend Penn State football coach James Franklin
Two more former NCAA football players have come to Penn State football head coach James Franklin’s defense.
We’re only halfway through the week, and it has been quite an eventful one already. Not only is the Penn State football program preparing for the first week of the season — but they are also preparing to deal with a lawsuit involving a former team physician.
By now, you’ve probably heard the news. Dr. Scott Lynch, who used to be the Nittany Lions’ orthopedic surgeon, and director of athletic medicine is filing a claim against the Penn State program after they terminated his spot within the department.
While Lynch remained employed by Penn State, the doctor still wasn’t all that hesitant to seek $50,000 in damages from the program. In his claim, Lynch says that he felt pressured by Penn State head coach James Franklin to clear injured players early, so they don’t miss as much time.
A few hours after the claim went public, Penn State put out a statement denying the claim while still talking highly of Dr. Lynch. James Franklin also addressed the situation himself on Tuesday denying any wrongdoing as well. Some believe him — others don’t. But the sudden reactions from former athletes who played for Franklin should help out in this case.
Players are speaking out
On Tuesday, before Franklin addressed the situation himself, a former Penn State linebacker took to Twitter to shoot down the claim. Oakland Raiders linebacker Jason Cabinda quote tweeted the initial report from Penn Live stating “lemme go ahead and save y’all the time of speculating…. this is complete and total BS straight up.”
Then, another former Nittany Lions player decided to take it a bit further. Former Penn State offensive lineman Paris Palmer wrote an entire statement to screenshot and post to Twitter, denying the claims as well. “It is unnerving to hear these disgusting and uncharacteristic allegations against Coach Franklin,” Palmer wrote.
“I have had my fair share of injuries while I played here at Penn State, and he has never pushed me or anyone to play sooner.” Although a former Penn State doctor made the claim, that didn’t stop former Vanderbilt players from defending Franklin either.
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Former Vanderbilt quarterback, Austyn Carta-Samuels took to Twitter to defend his former head coach recalling a moment where he wanted to return early from his injury — but Franklin wouldn’t allow it. “I was James Franklin’s QB in 2013 & tore my ACL in Game 7. I wanted to play on it. Three weeks later I was cleared by the doctors to play at Florida,” Carta-Samuels wrote. “Franklin thought I was rushing it & chose to protect me & told me I’d start vs. Kentucky the next week.